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Monday, January 6, 2014

Capturing 30% More of the Sun’s Energy with Solar Panels

Sustainable
technology is developing. As researchers put more energy into sustainable technology
like solar panels they naturally become more efficient and cost effective.Chemists led by Jianhui Hou from the Chinese
Academy of Sciences and North Carolina State University created a polymer known
as PBT- OP that, “was not only easier to
make than other commonly used polymers but showed an open circuit voltage value
of 0.78 volts — a 36 per cent increase over the 0.6 volt average from similar
polymers” (1).

This
means that solar panels may soon be 30% more effective than in the past. The discovery helps to retain more excitrons
than in the past (2).
When electrons make their way onto the
solar panel a certain amount of energy is lost in the transfer from the donor
to the receptor. The new polymer will allow for a higher level of efficiency in
transfer without as much loss.

This
may not be so exciting for some people. Yet if we think about the long term
implications of more effective solar panels we will come to understand that a
30% increase in solar panel efficiency as a clean energy has a profound impact.
As people begin to use more solar panel and other clean energy products a 30%
increase in the energy development is amazing. The future of energy and
pollution reduction is within such research and someday it may be possible to
reduce our overall carbon footprint.